TUIfly Catering Policy
Seatback pocket packed with safety card, airsickness bag, X3’s rather attractive inflight magazine…

…and menu cards. Page 1, valid on all flights (including those with free catering)…

…and page 2, valid on city shuttle flights in Germany and to/from Austria, Croatia, France, northern Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK (without free catering):

Free Snack
Flights to Sardinia belong to X3’s “longer flights” (to/from the Canaries, the Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Portugal, southern Italy, Spain and Tunisia) where drinks and food, ranging from baguettes to hot meals, are served free of charge. We were offered bagels with cheese and sausage cold cuts, both of which were quite filling. While I considered the cheese bagel to be the tastier option, my girlfriend liked the other one better.

The friendly F/As offered cold and hot drinks and later handed out small Mars chocolate bars:

Menus on Demand
X3 also offers the option to pre-order various snacks and menus (on longer flights). Here’s a link for more details (pics and descriptions only available on the German version of the website):
http://www.tuifly.com/de/service/bordmenue.html

Pax were permanently hanging around in the aisle, not the best conditions for cabin shots:

Passing the peninsula of Monte Argentario at 39,000 feet:

Another route map version:

Approach
We descended along Sardinia’s coastline…

…turning right for an approach from the south – so changing to the right side was a good decision!

Only moments…

…from the [i]Stadio Comunale Sant’Elia[/i], home of [i]Cagliari Calcio[/i]…

…and the city center of Cagliari.

The [i]Via Roma[/i] (where our Hotel Miramare was located)…

…a part of the harbor…

…and the train station as well as the central bus station at the [i]Piazza Matteotti[/i]:

Only few more moments…

…until we touched down at runway 32. It wasn’t very busy at Elmas Airport in the early afternoon – there were a Meridiana MD-80, an easyJet A319 and an Air One A320.

Goodbye, D-AHXF:

After grabbing our luggage it took us a while to find a bus ticket machine – it’s located far away from the the bus stop area. Who knows which logic’s behind that…Anyway, we managed to catch the next bus to the central station at the [i]Piazza Matteotti[/i] (running every 30 minutes, 2 Euro one-way).

Back in the bright light again, at 10,300 meters over an ocean of clouds:

Descent…
…over Finland’s beautiful landscape:

Approach over Helsinki:

Only moments from touchdown:

We touched down at 15:15 and quickly taxied to our gate – OH-LGG with Santa Claus just ahead:

Picture by Satchmo

MD-11 tails in the late afternoon sun:

Picture by Satchmo

It took us some 20 minutes to pass through the crowded security area after arrival. We checked the gate for the connecting flight and immediately walked to the other end of the terminal which was full of transfer passengers. A short visit to a toilet confirmed that we weren’t in Japan with its exceptionally clean facilities any more…

Sunday, 04 November 2007
Helsinki (HEL) – Munich (MUC)
Finnair, AY807
16:20-17:50 (16:34-17:40)
Flying time: 01:56 (hrs)

Airbus A320-214
OH-LXH (s/n 1913), delivered in 01/2003
Economy Seat 25E

Aircraft Change
The gate was crowded and I guessed right that the flight to MUC would be packed (85-90 percent). A bus brought us to a remote parking position. Afternoon rush during sunset:

After the bus had stopped and we were walking into the Finish November frostiness we realized we wouldn’t get the planned A319 but an A320. Anyway, not a big deal since we hadn’t flown any Finnair A32X before. OH-LXH in the late afternoon sunlight:

Cabin Comfort & IFE
Friendly F/As welcomed us on board and we walked down to our row. A man in the mid-30s, probably from India or Pakistan, was already sitting in the window seat. We kindly told him that we had been booked in the window seat and the adjacent middle but he didn’t seem to be interested in moving at first. He double checked his boarding pass and finally took the aisle seat, with a quite grim face – which didn’t become any better, especially later in the flight when we asked to pass…

Comfortable seats and sufficient pitch for a two hour flight:

Flat fold-down screens continuously showed the airshow channel (pic taken later in the flight):

Takeoff
We left the gate a bit late at 16:34 and took off five minutes later:

Goodbye Helsinki-Vantaa Airport:

Dinner…
…was served soon (by friendly, motivated F/As) and I was very positively surprised about the delicious hot meal: “Beef Wallenberg” (mincemeat), with gravy, potatoes and crisp carrots:

Sunset, Part 2
For the second time on this day we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, this time at 11,277 meters (37,000 feet):

Only minutes from Bavaria – or better: The Upper Palatinate. 😉

After less than two hours in the air we touched down on runway 26R at 17:35 and arrived at the gate five minutes later. Time to go home after an outstanding trip to one of the world’s most fascinating countries.

Conclusion
Top and flop – that’s how I would describe my Finnair experience. Again, the European flight was excellent with a comfortable, well-equipped cabin (TVs and airshow), friendly F/As and very good catering. In contrast, the long-haul flight was below average – cramped seating, (partly) worn cabin, “Stone Age” IFE, inconsistent crews and poor catering (e.g. food quality, charge for extra snacks). Sure, the MD-11s are on the way out, but there’s still a lot which needs to be improved in order to offer a competitive product (see the first report for more details on the HEL-NGO A340 flight). I wouldn’t hesitate to fly Finnair on European routes again, but I’m not yearning for an AY long-haul flight any time soon…

As for Japan in general: It’s THE country for any aviation enthusiast, registration spotter, photo spotter or whatever. It’s not a question IF, but WHEN I go again. Just for the record: I logged a total of 537 new registrations.

Best Regards,
PlaneHunter

International Concourse
We had hoped to get the Santa Claus MD-11 (OH-LGG), but OH-LGC was used for the KIX roundtrip again, just like on the day before:

Cabin Comfort & IFE
Boarding was started early – we had just finished spending our last remaining coins. Friendly F/As welcomed us at the door and offered bottles of water. The seat cushion was a bit hard…

…and pitch wasn’t very generous.

It felt very cramped in our row and we weren’t pleased about the idea of spending ten hours in that plane. It must be even worse in the 3-4-3 section! After boarding was completed we noticed that two seats were empty just behind us and Satchmo decided to move to that other window seat. Then the traveller in the aisle seat also decided to move and I had the whole row for myself – not bad considering the plane’s 80-90 percent load. Cabin shot (taken later in the flight):

Picture by Satchmo

As expected, the IFE wasn’t a delight. At least there was a monitor not far from my row. I watched the airshow when possible but didn’t watch any movies or TV features and didn’t check the audio programming. Interestingly – as we learned – there weren’t enough headphones on the plane…

Departure
Boarding was completed quickly and we left the gate ten minutes early at 11:50:

Passing the multi-story Observation Hall buildings:

Turning onto runway 06R:

Powerful Takeoff
Comfort was limited on this bird but at least we could enjoy a powerful trijet takeoff:

Land reclamation work around the new runway:

Climb
We turned left for a 360 degrees “screwdriver climb”…

Note the airstream over the wing:

The JAL 763 which took off just behind of us:

Passing the city of Kobe and Kobe Airport…

…as well as the city of Osaka…

…and Osaka Itami Airport:

Approach
After some 35 minutes in the air we already started descending, passing through the clouds…

…and “diving” into an impressive “sea of houses” for landing at an airport completely surrounded by residential areas:

Picture by Satchmo

Picture by Satchmo

We touched down at runway 34L and arrived at the gate at 11:09 – four minutes behind schedule.
Wingtip check by a ramper:

Osaka-Itami Airport
Even though the airport is officially designated as “Osaka International Airport”, the scheduled air traffic is entirely domestic. Kansai International Airport took over Osaka’s international traffic when it opened in 1994. Both Kansai (27 miles away) and Kobe Airport (16 miles away) are competitors for domestic traffic.
The area around ITM is densely populated which has resulted in protests against the airport over the years. In 1981 the Japanese Supreme Court of Japan ordered the government to pay damages to residents and impose limits on operating hours. There were even plans to close the airport following the opening of Kansai, but the idea was dropped due to economic reasons. Effective from April 2006, aircraft with more than two engines have been banned by the government.

Spotting Facilities
With roughly 17 million passengers per year, ITM is not among the busiest airports in Japan. The variety of airlines and aircraft is limited, but it’s a good place to catch the smaller types such as DHC-8-400s, CRJs or Saab 340s. However, what makes Itami such an enjoyable airport is the fantastic observation deck (free of charge). Many green spaces, small trees, colorful flowers and wooden planks provide for a special, somehow cozy atmosphere which you hardly find elsewhere.

Satchmo’s and PlaneHunter’s luggage and equipment – strategically placed next to drink vending machines. I can only recommend to try the Minute Maid grape juice.

The “ANA side”…

…with JA754A still parked at the gate…

…and the “JAL side” of the airport:

Food Plaza!
It’s not just the observation deck itself which makes Itami so attractive in my opinion – I was also impressed by the wide range of restaurants, shops and an outstanding bakery in the terminal hall. What a giant food plaza! Here’s what I bought at a restaurant and took to the observation deck: pieces of chicken breast, rice and fresh slices of ginger. Very tasty and rather quite cheap (some five Euro).

Viewing Park
Taking pictures can be difficult with the facing sun in the afternoon, so Satchmo took a bus and moved over to the other side of the airport where you can also find a large viewing park.

Picture by Satchmo

Evening Hours
Traffic can be low sometimes but it gets more busy in the late afternoon. Here’s JA754A again – being towed to its gate for a late afternoon departure to Haneda. Interestingly, it had been parked at a remote position all day after our arrival in the morning. Actually, no other 777-300 has arrived during our stay.

JA754A being prepared for takeoff under a pink sky:

An ANA 763 taking off during sunset – time to say goodbye for us:

Journey to Kansai
We bought tickets for the next available bus service to Kansai Airport and enjoyed a journey through Osaka’s dense evening traffic. After some 90 minutes we arrived at Kansai, decided to buy a reasonably-priced box of Sushi for dinner and took the shuttle bus to the Kanku Hineno Station Hotel located on the mainland. Fresh and tasty Sushi:

Conclusion
Flying ANA was a true pleasure again: friendly and efficient staff on the ground and in the air, clean cabin, sufficient seating comfort. I even got 417 M&M miles for that short (and cheapest available) flight – not bad considering that you only get 125 miles for similar LH short-haul flights. After finishing my series of Japan domestic flights I really can’t say which is my favorite carrier – I would fly all of them again, ANA, JAL and Skymark. In the end it depends on the fare and the aircraft type…

Next report: KIX-HEL-MUC on Finnair MD-11 and A320: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=79452

Best Regards,
PlaneHunter

Thursday, 01 November 2007
Kobe (UKB) – Tokyo (HND)
Skymark Airlines, SKY104
08:55-10:05 (08:57-09:59)
Flying time: 00:43 (hrs)

Boeing 767-36NER
JA767D (s/n 902), delivered in 09/2003
Economy Seat 30A

Check-in & Boarding
Five minutes after leaving the aircraft I arrived at Skymark’s check-in counters. They were easy to find in the compact and functional terminal hall. No other passengers were waiting at this point of time and only some minutes later the friendly agent handed over my boarding pass. I had requested a window seat in the rear part of the cabin and the agent had picked 30A.
Passing security was a pleasure once again, friendly officers and no lines. The gate was packed – mostly with business travelers – I guess the load factor was around 90 percent. About ten minutes before boarding was started, the captain – a white-haired westerner – came back to the gate area and bought some stuff at the nearby shop. So much for onboard catering… 😉

Cabin Comfort & IFE
After passing the friendly F/As at the door I was very surprised to find a common 2-3-2 configuration. I knew from reliable sources that Skymark does operate several 767s with 2-4-2 high density seating (C12Y292) – actually I really had wanted to try out such a high density seating.

Very comfortable dark blue leather seats:

Lots of legroom on this low-cost carrier aircraft:

Surprisingly, there were even PTVs in every seat – another oddity on this particular bird.

Main menu: Looks fine – but pressing any button always brought up the remark [i]”Service currently not available”[/i].

The handset was totally useless:

JA767D’s History
That particular plane’s interior seems to be unique in Skymark’s fleet. I found out later that JA767D, a 767-36NER model, had originally been intended for Lequios Airlines. The Okinawa-based carrier had plans to start flights between Okinawa-Naha and Tokyo-Haneda, but never got off the ground. The plane, scheduled for delivery in 03/2003 as JA01LQ, was parked for several months as N847SF and finally taken up by Skymark Airlines as JA767D.

The light blue in Lequios’ livery looks very similar to the light blue of JA767D’s headrests. Unfortunately I haven’t found any Skymark cabin pics yet for a comparison – but it seems JA767D’s Lequios interior hasn’t been changed since delivery in 2003. Seating configuration: Y265.

Departure
We were pushed back at 08:57 – two minutes behind schedule. Last look at Kobe’s modern terminal building:

It took seven more minutes until JA767D turned onto the runway and started its powerful takeoff roll.

We had landed in east-west direction – now we were taking off in west-east-direction.

Airshow
The PTVs weren’t operational, but the airshow channel was available on the overhead screens. So I could find out that we were cruising at 37,000 feet and as fast as 1003 km/h. Note the (777-style) Signature interior:

Interestingly, the Skymark airshow suggested a flying distance of 264 miles between Kobe and Haneda – ANA had suggested 280 miles on a data chart at the gate.

Inflight Service
F/As had offered blankets just like on the other Japanese carriers – but the drink service raised questions. Some F/As moved through the cabin with trolleys, but I didn’t see them asking anyone or selling anything.

Approach
Before we started the approach to Haneda I wanted to check the condition of the lavatories, but my Japanese seat neighbor was sleeping and didn’t react to any questions…

Large industrial sites on the ground:

Land reclamation works around Haneda…

…futuristic building on the left…

…and touchdown on runway 34L:

We stopped at the gate some minutes early at 09:59, with Haneda’s characteristic tower building on the left. Can you spot the departing ANA 747?

I took some more cabin pics before disembarking (see above) and asked a male F/A about the interior on other planes. He was friendly, but I’m not sure whether he understood what I wanted to know. Well, he couldn’t tell me anything specific about Skymark’s standard interior. Then a female F/A who had seen me taking pictures asked me to hand out my camera – so that she could take a pic of me and the male F/A. Nice move, considering I didn’t ask for it.
Then I finally left the gate area and met Satchmo at the Terminal 2 observation deck. Plenty of time left for spotting – mission accomplished! 🙂

Floral Room
After a drink service (tea/coffee/juices/soup) I walked through the empty cabin and discovered the sign “Floral Room” on a lavatory door:

I asked one of the F/As about that and she told me it’s a lavatory with additional amenities for women. [i]”But men have also access”,[/i] she added and smiled. Later at home I found out that JAS had actually invented the “Floral Room”, becoming the first airline in the world in March 1996 to offer a dedicated lavatory for women. Interestingly, the designation has survived the JAL/JAS merger – JAL had called its lady lavatory “Elegance Room”. However, I still don’t know whether men can always use the “Floral Room” or whether it was an exception due to the light load.

Apart from a smell of flowers in the lavatory, the amenities include emulsions, hand soap…

…and pink and green patterned toilet paper:

Approach
One hour had passed quickly and we started the descent into Tokyo-Haneda. First heading north to Tokyo-Narita…

…then turning left towards Tokyo Bay and Haneda:

Again the front camera was switched on and offered good views:

We touched down at 18:37…

…and arrived at the gate six minutes later.

On blocks at 18:43 – three minutes behind schedule.

Before disembarking we chatted for a short while with one of the F/As. She asked what we had planned for our visit to Tokyo and we told her about the purpose of our trip. She was a bit surprised and told us about the beautiful countryside in October and November. We assured that we would come back for an extended country tour in the future.

Narita Airport Rest House
Minutes later we grabbed our luggage and bought tickets for the roughly 75 minutes transfer to Tokyo-Narita Airport (3000 Yen = 18 Euro, one way). After arrival we had to take a shuttle bus to the Narita Airport Rest House – a hotel which seems to be just next to the terminal on certain maps. However, you really need to take a shuttle bus and airport view from the rooms may be very limited. The hotel (double room for 88 Euro) is not in good shape any more and the older concierge wasn’t friendly at all – I asked for airport view and all he replied was “rooms not for viewing”. :-I Either he was rude or he didn’t speak English well, who knows. At least the hotel offered a large breakfast buffet.

Tokyo-Narita Spotting – 31 October
We took the shuttle bus back to the airport in the next morning and went to the observation deck on Terminal 1 (open between 08:00 and 20:00). That facility is facing the main runway used for all 747 operations and all longhaul departures. I stayed there all day and didn’t check the observation deck on Terminal 2 (facing the shorter runway) – simply because one would miss more aircraft over there than at the T1 facility. Depending on the time of the day, photo spotters need to switch to another places around the airport.

The variety of airlines is enormous, but numerous Asian carriers use 747s or other longhaul aircraft which also fly to European or American destinations. Japanese domestic aircraft are rare, but ANA and JAL have based a large number of international aircraft at NRT (e.g. ANA 77W in Star colors and ANA 763ER in panda cls). Chinese carriers are limited, some of them fly into Haneda. Despite some well-known European and American longhaul aircraft and other doubles I logged a total of 103 new registrations until sunset in the late afternoon.

In the afternoon an NWA A332 arrived – without its right winglet.

Some mechanics visually inspecting the wingtip:

Evening scenes…

After sunset we bought a return bus ticket to Tokyo-Haneda Airport. This time the journey was a bit longer due to dense traffic. From HND we took the shuttle bus to the Toyoko-Inn Haneda Otorii Honkan, some ten minutes from the airport.

Conclusion
Domestic flying between FUK and HND on JAL was once again a pleasure: friendly, customer-orientated staff everywhere and lots of comfort on the ex-JAS 777-289. The powerful takeoff and fast climb on that light widebody were additional fun factors. No English newspapers this time, but PTVs were a nice compensation.

Next reports:
HND-UKB-HND on ANA 763 (non-ER) & Skymark 763ER: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=77190
HND-ITM on ANA 777-300: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=79271
KIX-HEL-MUC on Finnair MD-11 & A320: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=79452

Best Regards,
PlaneHunter

Thank you very much, I really appreciate your feedback!

When is your next trip/holiday after your Japan trip?

I don’t know yet, currently I have many ideas but no firm plans. Hopefully that will change soon!

for someone who was forbidden from taking onboard photos you didn’t do a bad job

Yes, I did my very best. 😉

PH